


You're the Only One(sie) for Me

by mikkimouse



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: First Kiss, Fox Stiles, Getting Together, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, M/M, Minor Scott McCall/Kira Yukimura, Minor Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes, Wolf Derek, mentioned Allison Argent/Isaac Lahey - Freeform, mentioned Cora Hale/Lydia Martin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-12 07:59:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4471481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikkimouse/pseuds/mikkimouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles buys Halloween costumes online and badgers Derek into wearing one for a party at the Preserve, because they're friends now and friends do those kinds of things. It's all fun and games until he and Derek turn <em>into</em> their costumes.</p>
<p>Stiles probably should have done a <em>little</em> more research on the seller.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You're the Only One(sie) for Me

**Author's Note:**

> WOO it's my first entry for the Teen Wolf Reverse Big Bang! (In both senses of the word: this is my first of two fics, and it's my first time participating in the RBB!)
> 
> This was inspired by sa-chan-desu's [absolutely ADORABLE art.](http://sarrinawolfchick.deviantart.com/art/Kigu-Party-550033493) Go give her some love!
> 
> A special thanks to [domesticated-chaos](http://domesticated-chaos.tumblr.com/), [bleep0bleep](http://bleep0bleep.tumblr.com/), [deleted-scenes](http://deleted-scenes.tumblr.com/), and J for the beta read, and to my lovely group of Sterekers for all their encouragement and brainstorming help. <3
> 
> As always, let me know if there are any tags I've missed. Hope you all enjoy it!

There were a lot of things that could be said about Stiles Stilinski. That he had a limited attention span, definitely. That he was terrifyingly good at research and a font of information, both useless and useful. That he was totally okay with breaking a few laws or a few bones if it meant keeping his friends and family safe.

But, most importantly, that he was very, very _persistent_.

A trait Stiles intended to put to very good use in approximately three...two...one...

The loft door slid open with a metallic groan, revealing Derek on the other side, wearing a tank top, faded sweat pants, and an adorably confused expression. It made Stiles's heart flip-flop, and he just hoped Derek wasn't quite awake enough to hear it.

"Stiles? What are you doing here?"

Stiles beamed and held up his packages. "Surprise! I have our Halloween costumes!"

"You—" Derek's brow furrowed further. "Wait, what?"

Stiles took that as an invitation to come in, and slid past Derek into the loft. "C'mon, Derek. Party out at the Preserve tonight, rest of the pack's going to be there..." He waved the packages at Derek again. "It'll be fun!"

The confusion on Derek's face gradually transitioned into wariness, and he closed the door and took two cautious steps toward Stiles, like he was holding a wolfsbane bomb instead of freaking _Halloween costumes._

"What," Derek said again, but it didn't sound like a question this time.

Stiles set the boxes on the coffee table—which, Derek with a coffee table _still_ blew his mind—and ripped into them with his keys. Getting the costumes out was more awkward than he'd have liked, but he freed them from the packaging and held them up, crowing "Ta-daaaaa!"

Derek's eyes flicked from Stiles's left hand, to his right, then back again, then to Stiles himself. "You bought onesies."

"Kigurumi," Stiles corrected. "They're called kigurumi."

"You bought _animal onesies_ ," Derek said, as if Stiles wasn't well aware of what he'd purchased online.

"I bought us Halloween costumes." Stiles held up the one in his right hand. "Wolf for you," he wiggled the one in his left, "fox for me."

"Animal onesies," Derek repeated, still staring somewhat blankly at Stiles and the kigus. "You got us animal onesies to wear. In public."

"Halloween costumes, dude, come on." Stiles wiggled the kigus again, the empty pants legs flopping as he did. "Fox and wolf? It's hilarious! Everyone else will think it's cute and only the pack will get the joke!"

Derek crossed his arms and exhaled slowly in a way that told Stiles he was probably counting to ten in his head. "No."

"No?" Stiles feigned ignorance. "No wolf? You want to be the fox? I mean, I ordered the wolf one for you but we're pretty close to the same size, I think you could—"

Derek turned and headed toward the kitchen. "I mean _no_ , Stiles."

Stiles tossed the kigus on the couch and followed him. "Do you already have a costume?"

"No."

"Were you even _going_ to wear a costume?"

"...Yes."

Stiles rolled his eyes so hard he thought he pulled something. "That's a horrible lie. Terrible. I don't even have to be a werewolf to hear it. You weren't going to get a costume? For a _Halloween_ party?"

Derek pointed to his face and flashed his eyes. "Like you said, werewolf."

"Oh, dude, just because you're a supernatural creature of the night does _not_ mean that you can skimp out on the Halloween costume." Stiles ran over and grabbed the wolf kigurumi off the couch and brought it back to Derek. "Come on, this is perfect! It's one piece, so it's easy. And it's warm, and it's comfortable, seriously, you should feel this material. And you can put on your grr face and people will be totally into it!"

Derek dug a giant mixing bowl out of the cupboard. "I can't believe you want me to put on a giant animal onesie and go out to a party in it. Why did you buy me a costume, anyway?"

Stiles's heart did a weird double-tap that he _really_ hoped Derek didn't notice. Derek didn't need to know about his crush. "They were on sale," he said lightly. "Besides, you in a cute wolf kigu? I couldn't resist."

Derek tossed two bags of candy onto the kitchen table and raised his eyebrows.

Stiles was reasonably sure that expression meant he was not entirely opposed to the idea of wearing a kigurumi, but only required some more convincing. At least, that's what Stiles chose to assume it meant, because that meant he had a greater chance of getting Derek into the kigu. "Come on, Derek. It'll be fun!"

"Fun," Derek echoed drily, but he walked over to Stiles and took the wolf's sleeve in his hand. "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

"Great!" Stiles shoved the kigurumi into Derek's hands before he could say anything else. "It'll be awesome. I'll swing by around nine, nine-thirty, and we can ride together? Sound good?"

Derek blinked down at the bundle of fabric in his arms, like he wasn't entirely sure what had just happened. "Stiles—"

"Excellent!" Stiles was aware that his voice was pitched a tad higher than usual, but the best thing to do right now was to keep moving, before Derek could argue more. He grabbed his fox kigu off the couch and his keys off the coffee table. "Can't wait, man, this is going to be a blast!"

And with that, Stiles was out of the loft before Derek could say another word.

***

At 9:30, Stiles pulled into the parking lot of Derek's building and proceeded to fidget the entire way up the elevator. At this rate, he'd probably sweat through the kigurumi before he even got to the loft. On the plus side, it _was_ warm, which would definitely be a benefit when they were in the middle of the dark, cold Preserve with the only heat coming from a bonfire.

The elevator ticked closer to Derek's floor, and Stiles breathed deep and gave himself a mental pep talk. He'd long ago accepted that he was somewhere between halfway and completely in love with Derek Hale, and he'd also long ago accepted that those feelings would not be reciprocated. Which, it didn't matter, because they were friends now, and it was awesome. They hung out and argued over movies and cleaned up the kitchen together after pack movie nights and Derek was usually happy to humor Stiles when he got bored in the middle of class and started sending random text messages.

It was pretty much perfect, and Stiles was not ever going to screw it up by admitting to feelings that would make Derek's eyes shutter and his shoulders tense. Tonight they were just hanging out with the pack in the Preserve for Halloween. It was going to be awesome, and since it had been a good three years since anything had exploded in town, it was going to be _peaceful_.

Stiles popped his knuckles and the elevator door opened. Okay. He was totally ready for this.

He started pounding the rhythm to "Back in Black" on Derek's door, and didn't even make it to the first verse before Derek yanked the door open.

Stiles opened his mouth to give Derek grief for cutting off his awesome AC/DC rendition, when he registered what was in front of him.

Derek was _wearing_ the wolf kigurumi.

Holy crap, Stiles had expected at _least_ another thirty minutes of begging and pleading to get Derek into the costume, and his brain was not prepared for this.

It was alternately the dorkiest and most adorable thing he had ever seen in his _life_.

Derek crossed his arms and glared, the effect of which was somewhat lessened considering the giant puffy paw gloves he wore. "What are you looking at?"

Stiles clapped his mouth shut, but not before he let out a squeak. "Oh my God."

Derek's glare deepened, but his cheeks also turned pink. "Don't. Laugh."

Stiles was going to _die_ with how cute this was. He bit his lips to keep from smiling. "I'm not laughing, I swear."

Derek pointed a finger at him. Or at least, Stiles assumed he was pointing, given that his hands were covered by the _puffy paw gloves_. "This was your idea."

Stiles held up his hands in surrender. "Yes, it was. Totally my idea. I accept full responsibility." Hell, _yes_ , he was going to take full responsibility for making Derek "Creepy McCreeper" Hale look fucking _adorable_. "So, you ready to go?"

Derek sighed and rubbed his face (Stiles squeaked again; it was so _cute_ ). "Yeah, I'm ready. Let's get this over with."

Stiles rolled his eyes and waved toward the elevator. "Right this way, grumpy."

***

The party was already in full swing by the time they got to the Preserve, with alcohol flowing freely and a bonfire already roaring, with people dancing to the music blasting from the back of somebody's truck.

The pack was already there as well: Scott and Kira cuddled up on a giant log by the bonfire, Allison, Isaac, Boyd, and Erica dancing in the crowd, and Lydia and Cora over by the alcohol (probably making sure it was spiked to the werewolves' specifications).

They had barely been there for thirty seconds when Kira and Scott were coming over to hug them (which made Derek adorably uncomfortable), Erica was cooing over their costumes, and Cora was pressing a drink into Derek's hand with a knowing smirk (which Stiles pretended he didn't see). If Cora made fun of Derek for the costume, Stiles was pretty sure it didn't matter _how_ good of friends they were, Derek would disembowel him before the end of the night.

Before Stiles could take a drink, though, Erica was grabbing his arm. "Stilinski, come dance with me."

He tried to pull his arm out of her grip. It was useless, of course, but he tried anyway. "Um, I was going to—"

Erica was already dragging him into the crowd of writhing bodies. "That wasn't a question!"

Protesting would be equally useless, and besides, Stiles had intended to dance anyway. He'd just hoped to drag Derek with him when he did.

Soon he was sandwiched between Erica and Boyd, who were dressed up as the Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood respectively. (Asking how Erica had talked Boyd into wearing that skirt was met with a death glare to rival Derek's, so Stiles refrained from mentioning it more than once. Okay, twice.) The music was so loud Stiles didn't know how they could stand it; all he could make out was a steadily thumping bass line that both Erica and Boyd moved to gracefully. Stiles moved as well, but it was considerably less graceful.

Erica chuckled and tugged on his tail. "Cute fox onesie, Stilinski."

"It's a kigurumi," Stiles said for what felt like the thousandth time.

"You have a tail and paws and everything." Her brown eyes were gleaming with mirth. "And you got _Derek_ into one. I'm impressed."

"Is there something you need to tell us?" Boyd asked, his voice deep and solemn and nearly impossible to take seriously when he was wearing a frilly red skirt.

Then Stiles registered that they were both looking at him expectantly. "Uh, what?"

"Is there. Something. You need. To tell us," Boyd repeated slowly.

"...No?" Stiles guessed. " _Is_ there something I need to tell you?"

Boyd crossed his arms. "You tell me."

Okay, frilly skirt or no, Stiles was sufficiently intimidated. "I...um, might have helped my dorm-mates grow weed in the vacant room at the end of the hall and that's how I bought everyone's Christmas presents last year."

Erica and Boyd both stared at him with twin looks of disbelief.

Stiles was a little offended. "What? Are you _that_ surprised I have a green thumb?"

Boyd actually facepalmed. "You cannot be this dense."

Erica jabbed him in the shoulder. "Derek is like our big brother, okay? And if you hurt him—"

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa!_ " Stiles held up his hands. "Wait. Hold up. Hurt him? Are you guys giving me the shovel talk? Is that what's going on? Because Derek and I _aren't dating_."

Erica scoffed. "Please, like anything short of a blow job could have gotten him into that wolf onesie."

Stiles felt his face flame, and told himself it was because of the bonfire, not because of the mental image of giving Derek a blow job. God, he needed to not think about that; he only had on a pair of boxers under this thing and it would probably not hide much if he got hard.

"We're _not_ ," he repeated, because the truth seemed to be his only real defense right now. "Though I really appreciate you guys thinking I could land that, because _damn_."

From the look they exchanged, Stiles could tell they didn't believe him. Well, fine. Let them be deluded; he was getting out of here before they got any other weird ideas.

"I'm going to get a drink," he muttered, pretty sure they'd both be able to hear it over the noise of the music.

Stiles wove his way back through the crowd, avoided getting his tail stepped on, and headed past the perimeter of the party and into the woods. He needed a break after that conversation.

Did Boyd and Erica know about his giant crush? Hell, probably. The whole freaking _pack_ probably knew, or at least the ones who could smell emotions. Stiles was pretty sure he stank like unrequited love every time he was within fifteen feet of Derek, and honestly, he was just lucky everyone had been kind enough to keep it on the down low. Derek wasn't interested, Stiles _knew_ that, and he didn't need his feelings mucking up their friendship.

He was far enough from the party that he could still see the flickering light of the fire, but the music had faded mostly to a dull thumping noise, and Stiles sighed in relief and rubbed his ears. It was colder here, away from the bonfire, but the kigurumi kept him warm enough.

Stiles made his way to a nearby log to sit down for a minute, only to see that the log was already taken.

By Derek. Because the universe had a sick sense of humor, clearly.

He thought about heading back to the bonfire, but Derek was already turning his way. "Stiles?"

Well, there was nothing for it now. Stiles pasted a smile on his face and gave a little wave. "Hey, man, what are you doing so far out from the party?"

Derek scooted over on the log. "I could ask you the same question."

Stiles shrugged and took a seat next to Derek, who was very resolutely staring off into the dark woods. "Well, you know. Loud music was starting to get to me. I'm pretty sure my ears won't stop ringing for a month."

Derek snorted. "Tell me about it."

"Yeah, I guess that werewolf hearing isn't so hot right now, is it?"

The soft sound Derek made could have been a laugh. Stiles decided to assume it was.

They settled into silence, which could have been awkward—maybe should have been, given how much Stiles didn't really _like_ silence—but really wasn't. It felt...companionable. Comfortable. Like it was something they did all the time.

Hell, it kind of was. The only other person Stiles was this comfortable with was Scott, and it was a different kind of comfort. With Derek, Stiles felt comfortable, but was still hyper-aware of every move he made, the line of heat from his body, and the fact that their hands were resting _one inch_ from each other on the log. All Stiles would have to do would be to extend his pinky a fraction, shift his weight just a hair, and then—

Stiles cleared his throat and returned his focus to the forest. He had to say something fast, before he did something dumb like try to hold Derek's hand. "Nice night, huh? Can't believe it's actually a full moon. Well, that it's a full moon and we're not, you know, fighting off angry werewolves or wendigos or whatever."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Derek nod. "Everyone's found their anchors, and the Nemeton's quiet."

"Yeah." Stiles kicked his heel at the ground. "It's nice."

Derek chuckled softly. "Never thought I'd hear you say that."

Stiles jerked around to gape at him. " _What?_ You think I _liked_ spending every spare moment fighting for our lives or worrying about Dad and Scott and—"

Derek shook his head. "That's not it. It's..." He frowned thoughtfully. "You're good in a crisis. You're good at research, you think fast, and you don't like being bored. You like the adrenaline rush. I'm just...surprised you like the peace as well, I guess."

Stiles opened his mouth to argue, and then closed it and scratched the back of his neck (not very easy with the giant fox paws he was wearing). "Okay, fair. And that's probably part of why I'm majoring in criminology, because I don't like being bored. But that...I don't know. I'm just happy we can have a few months here and there where nothing goes wrong, you know?"

Derek's mouth curved into a slight smile. "Yeah, I know."

Even under the trees, the light of the moon was enough that Stiles could see the glint of Derek's eyes, the rainbow of colors that he had naturally and the blue reflection of his wolf eyes. And Derek was looking right back at him, face oddly open, more so than Stiles had ever seen it.

Wind drifted through the trees, rustling the dying leaves on the branches, and the party behind them seemed to fade away. The moment was quiet, intimate, suspended in time, and Stiles _knew_ he should do something to break it but he couldn't bring himself to. Not when Derek was looking at him like that, mouth slightly parted, eyes flicking over Stiles's face like he was reading something, and Stiles had no idea what it could be.

A bright light flashed in front of his eyes, something struck Stiles on the back of the head, and the last thing he knew, he was falling off the log.

***

Stiles _hurt._

He blinked his eyes open to see he was still in the forest, but he felt weird and woozy and sore, like he'd done a full-body workout for two hours and then slept without stretching. He did so now, twisting and popping his back and his neck and his paws and—

_Wait_.

Stiles stared at his hands. No, not his hands. They weren't _hands_ , being as that he was _completely lacking opposable thumbs_. He had tiny black paws.

Tiny black fox paws.

He scrambled to his feet (he had _four_ of them) and to get a better look at his body. He had _fur_. Holy _shit_ , he had fur! And a fucking _muzzle_ , holy shit he was a fox.

He was an actual _fox_.

"Derek!" Stiles yelled. At least his voice still seemed to be working.

He scrambled around the log, but he didn't see Derek. Shit, had Derek been hit by the same thing Stiles had? What would it have done to a werewolf? This was all his fault, he shouldn't have said anything about nothing going wrong; _he knew better than that_. That was like poking fate in the side and daring it to do its worst.

"Derek!" he yelped again. "Derek! Oh _shit_ , I'm sorry , I—"

"I'm _fine_ ," Derek's voice grumbled.

Stiles froze where he was, his tail ( _tail?!_ ) quivering. On the other side of the log, Derek rolled up and shook himself, and he was—

He was a giant black wolf. Because of fucking _course_.

Stiles wanted to bash his head against the log until he woke up from this. Instead, he just jumped up on the log so that he could get a closer look at Derek.

Derek scowled at him. Stiles hadn't even known wolves could scowl. "You're a fox."

Stiles sat down in a huff. "Congratulations. You're a wolf."

Derek picked up one of his paws—which were like four times the size of Stiles's; _not fair_ —and examined it. After a moment, he said, "I can't shift back."

"Oh, _shit_." Stiles scrambled off the log. "We have to get back to the bonfire. I've seen this episode of Buffy."

"You what?" Derek asked, but Stiles was already taking off through the underbrush toward the party.

If _they'd_ turned into their Halloween costumes, then everybody else probably had as well, and the last thing anyone needed was Erica as the Big _Bad_ Wolf running around after people. He needed to get to Scott, warn him about what had happened, and—

And Derek picked him up by the scruff of his neck, leaving Stiles's tiny fox paws clawing at the air as he kept running.

"What are you _doing?_ " Stiles demanded. "We've got to get back and warn them and—"

Derek growled, sat back on his haunches, and pointed with one of his forepaws.

Stiles followed the paw and saw that the party was still in full swing. People were dancing and laughing and drinking and making out. Nobody appeared to have changed into their costumes. In fact, the scene looked exactly as it had when they'd left.

Derek dropped him unceremoniously to the ground. "We're the only ones who changed, _Stiles_."

The accusing tone had Stiles's fur bristling. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Where did you get our costumes, again?"

"Dude!" Stiles tried to flail, but that didn't work when he didn't have _arms_. "I got them off Amazon!"

Derek continued to give him a very unimpressed look. "Actual Amazon, or a secondary retailer who just uses it to list the product?"

Stiles opened his mouth to say of _course_ it was actually Amazon, but then he remembered. "Um."

Derek covered his eyes with his paw and sighed heavily. "You ordered us _cursed onesies_."

"Not _intentionally!_ " Stiles's ear itched, and without thinking, he scratched at it with his foot. _That_ was a strange feeling. "I know they tell you to be careful where you order online, but I highly doubt this was what they were talking about."

" _Stiles_."

All right, Derek's growl was _slightly_ more terrifying when Stiles was a foot tall and didn't even weigh twenty pounds. He scampered back out of Derek's reach, nearly tripping over his own tail in the process. "Look, it's probably just a Halloween thing or a full moon thing or something like that. We'll be back to normal tomorrow, I bet. Probably. Hopefully. Ohgod please don't eat me."

Derek rolled his eyes. "For God's sake, Stiles."

"What? I know you're used to your wolf instincts, but this is the first time I've been smaller than you when you're having them." Stiles ran in a little circle; he was so _jittery_ he had to do something. "Dude, do you feel totally wired? I feel totally wired. I wonder if they did something to the kigurumis to make you feel like you overdosed on caffeine. How fast do you think I could run?"

Derek's eyebrows drew together in a way Stiles couldn't really decipher on his wolf face. "It probably has less to do with any spells and more to do with the fact that you're a _fox_."

Stiles was only half-listening. The shock of being turned into a fox had started to wear off, and now he was suddenly aware of a thousand new things in the Preserve. He could hear _so much more_ , thousands of things, not just the leaves and the wind but the sound of insects crawling over the ground several yards away and the beat of a bird's wings. And the _smells_ , holy shit! This close to the party, all he could smell was sweat and people and alcohol, but if he moved away he could pick up other things from the Preserve, a myriad of scents he couldn't even _begin_ to describe.

"Stiles." Derek trotted after him. "Come on, we should—"

"You should play with me," Stiles said.

Derek stopped. "What?"

Stiles bounded over to him. "Play! Come on, chase me. I want to see how fast I can run."

"I'm not going to _chase_ you, dammit, we need to figure out how to turn ourselves back!"

Stiles rolled on the ground, scratching his back against a rock, which, holy _shit_ that felt amazing. "We can do it tomorrow!" He batted at Derek's nose. "Come on, play with me!"

Derek bared his teeth and swiped at Stiles, but Stiles flipped onto his feet and scampered away. He wanted to _run_. "Bet you can't catch me!" he shouted at Derek, and took off.

"Stiles! Stiles, _wait!_ "

Stiles laughed and ran, practically flying low over the ground, bouncing off trees and rocks to change direction in a split second. He could hear Derek behind him, gaining ground as they ran. But hell no, Stiles wasn't going to get caught that easily.

"Come on, I thought you were the one who was supposed to be used to four paws!" he shouted over his shoulder.

"How is it that you're _more_ annoying as a fox?" Derek shouted back.

Stiles just laughed and put on an extra burst of speed.

Even so, Derek caught up with him sooner than Stiles would have liked. He tried to make use of his smaller size—scampering through logs and under roots, hoping to trip Derek up—but Derek _was_ more accustomed to being an animal. He snapped at Stiles's tail, and Stiles flicked it out of the way and darted off to the right. Derek stayed right on his heels.

This was _fun_ , fun enough that Stiles was almost regretting his decision never to take the Bite. He loved being human, really, but he could imagine running through the woods here with the whole _pack_. Rolling through the leaves and hunting together and launching sneak attacks on Scott to get back at him for _every time_ he'd used his stupid werewolf powers to scare the shit out of Stiles.

Granted, he _wasn't_ going to take the Bite, but still. This was amazing, and he was glad Derek was with him.

Stiles bounced off another rock to make a hard left turn, and suddenly there wasn't any ground beneath him.

" _Shit!_ "

He tumbled down a steep incline, curling into a ball to protect himself as best he could. He landed against the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of him and finally rolled to a stop next to a tree.

For a moment, Stiles lay there, panting, reorienting himself after that heart-stopping fall. He tested his paws (none seemed to be hurt) and nosed at his ribs. He had a few scrapes, but nothing really seemed to be broken. Thank God.

He got to his feet and shook himself off. "Derek?"

He twitched his ears, listening, but there wasn't any answer. How far had he fallen? Had Derek even seen him fall?

Stiles sniffed at the air, but he didn't smell anything familiar. "Derek?" he called again. "Come on, man, you missed a totally awful wipeout! Aren't you even going to make fun of me for it?"

The only response he got was the hoot of an owl and a particularly menacing-sounding gust of wind.

Stiles was suddenly _very_ aware that he was a very small fox in the middle of a very large forest, and his self-preservation instincts were awful when he was human. He didn't want to think about how bad they'd be in a body he hadn't even had for a full hour.

He should head back to the party. Yeah, that would probably be best. Derek would probably go that way anyway, and they could get started on getting them both back to normal.

Of course, Stiles just had to remember which _way_ the party was.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

He'd taken two steps in what he thought was the right direction when every hair on the back of his body stood on end. It was one thing when it was only the hair on the back of your neck; it was something else entirely when it went all the way down your spine to your freaking _tail_.

Stiles stopped where he was, every sense in his body bent toward figuring out what the hell was making him freak out like that. He couldn't see or hear or smell anything, but _something_ was out there. He knew it on some instinctive level.

"Derek?" he tried cautiously. "That's not funny, dude."

Silence. If this was Derek trying to scare him, Stiles was going to douse the Camaro _and_ the loft in mountain ash.

Stiles gulped and tentatively started walking again.

Something growled.

He froze again. It was low enough Stiles thought he was imagining things, but no, that was _definitely_ a growl, reverberating through the forest around him.

And it wasn't Derek.

Stiles was familiar with pretty much all of Derek's growls and that was _not_ him.

He snapped his head around, following the cold sense of dread creeping up the back of his neck. There, just a few yards away from him, he saw a pair of eyes reflecting the light of a full moon.

Not werewolf eyes. Mountain lion eyes.

"Oh, fuck."

Stiles took off, tearing across the ground as fast as his paws could take him. The mountain lion crashed after him, snarling, so close Stiles swore he could feel its breath on his rear paws. He scampered through a log just before the mountain lion pounced and crushed it.

He ran faster, zig-zagging through the forest, sheer adrenaline and terror keeping his reflexes sharper than they would have been otherwise. He had no idea if he was getting any closer to the party; right now, his only goal was to get the hell away from the mountain lion by any means necessary.

Something crashed through the underbrush beside him, and Stiles saw a giant black shadow sail out and land against the mountain lion with a vicious snarl.

_Derek_.

Stiles scrambled up to a tree, curling up in the shadow of the trunk so he could get a better look at what was going on. Even with his fox vision, he couldn't see more than two growling, fighting lumps. He itched to help, but they were moving so fast he'd probably end up biting Derek by accident.

There was a yelp—though who made it, Stiles couldn't say—and the mountain lion scrambled off and ran away. He darted out of his hiding place and over to Derek. The coppery tang of blood filled the air.

"Derek." Stiles nosed at his side, sniffing, trying to figure out how badly Derek was hurt and where. "Derek, talk to me, are you okay, please be okay—"

Derek grunted and got to his feet. "I'm fine."

One of his legs buckled, and Stiles immediately ran to his other side to prop him up. "Sure you are, big guy. Shouldn't you be healing about now?"

"Give it a minute."

Yeah, Stiles didn't really want to wait a minute with Derek bleeding in the middle of the Preserve. He listened, trying to figure out which direction the party was in, and nudged Derek that way. "Come on, we should get back to Scott."

Derek grumbled, but didn't argue. _That_ worried Stiles more than anything.

They limped through the forest—or Derek limped, and Stiles scrambled back and forth between checking the ground ahead of them and giving Derek some support. He was pretty sure it wasn't healthy for his heart to be beating this fast—or maybe it was healthy, since he was a fox, but it still felt like it was about to beat right out of his chest.

Derek _wasn't healing_ , and that was so many kinds of not good. Stiles tried not to point this out, but it tumbled out of his mouth anyway. "Dude, you shouldn't be still limping."

"I think the curse turned me into an actual wolf," Derek said between labored breaths.

"Shit."

"Yeah."

"Okay." Stiles looked up, gauged the distance between where they were and where the party was. The sounds of life were getting louder, so they had to be on the right track. "Okay, you stay here, and I'm going to run and get Scott and the others. Then they can take us to Deaton's."

"No. I can make it," Derek said gruffly.

"You are _still bleeding_ ," Stiles said. "I'm fast, I can be there and back in a few minutes. You'll hardly know I'm gone."

Derek growled, but it sounded pained.

Stiles nuzzled his head against Derek's jaw before he could think too much about what that action might mean. "Trust me, Derek. I'm not going to leave you."

Derek looked at him, multicolored eyes boring into his in such a way that it stole Stiles's breath. "I know."

Stiles nuzzled him again and took off for the party.

***

Thankfully Stiles was closer than he'd anticipated, and thank God, Kira was _right there_ near the outskirts of the party, just on the other side of the drink table. Stiles wouldn't have to fight his way through a party as a fox to find someone.

He scampered up to her. "Kira! Kira, oh God, I need your help, I got turned into a fox and Derek's a wolf, a _real_ wolf, and he's hurt and—"

Kira gasped and crouched down, reaching her hand out toward him. "Hey there, little guy, you okay?"

"It's me, _Stiles_ ," Stiles said, because seriously, how had she not picked up on that? "I'm fine but Derek's _hurt_ and he's not healing and I need you guys to follow me right now!"

Kira frowned. "It's okay, it's okay! Just come a little closer, let me see you. I just want to make sure you're not hurt."

She couldn't understand him. He was standing right here by someone who could help him and she couldn't understand a word he was saying. Stiles stared at her and wondered how well it would translate if he bashed his head against the table in frustration.

"De-rek." Stiles punctuated each syllable, as if that might help cross the language barrier. "He's _hurt_ , come with me!"

He grabbed hold of her shirt sleeve and tugged, trying to get her to understand she needed to follow him. "Come _on_ ," he grumbled through the mouth full of fabric.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Kira asked.

Stiles growled. " _Yes!_ "

He let go and ran off into the woods, checking to see if Kira was following. She called for Scott, and then started after him.

Stiles scrambled back toward Derek, wanting to run faster but forcing himself to wait so that Kira wouldn't lose him. His whole body screamed to move quicker, to get back to Derek, and it felt like moving through peanut butter to hold back.

After what felt like forever, he finally spotted Derek and darted over. They were close enough that Kira could follow him easily. Probably.

"Derek! You're not dead, are you?"

Derek raised his head and glared. "I'm not dying, you idiot."

Stiles stuck out his tongue. He wasn't sure how effective it was as a fox. "You're bleeding and not healing, and that means we should probably get you back to human form as soon as possible. Oh, and it doesn't look like the others can understand us."

"What?" Derek asked, but then Kira was kneeling beside them, looking at Derek's side with a concerned frown.

She turned back toward the party. "Scott! Over here!"

Scott was there not five seconds later, crouching next to Kira and examining Derek with an equally concerned frown on his face. "How did you know he was out here?"

"This little guy." She reached back and scratched Stiles's ears—which holy _shit_ , who knew that would feel so amazing? "He seems pretty worried about his friend."

Derek laid his head back down and covered his face with his paw. "Oh my God."

Stiles rested his head into Kira's lap in the hopes of more ear scratches. "Hey, I am super cute and also worried about you, asshole."

"Should we take him to Deaton?" Kira asked.

Scott frowned. "It's almost two in the morning, and he's just a normal wolf. Nothing supernatural."

"No, he isn't!" Stiles shouted. "That's _Derek_ , and I'm _Stiles_ , come on, Scotty! Put the pieces together!"

"There's a wildlife rehabilitation clinic outside town that'll be open in the morning," Scott continued, as though Stiles hadn't said a word. "We can contact animal control, and they can drop this guy off first thing tomorrow."

"No, Scott!" Stiles forewent more ear scratches to jump on Scott's arm and look up at him imploringly. "Take us to Deaton! _Dea-ton_."

Scott's eyes met his, and Stiles thought he could see the dots connecting. This was it, this was the moment Scott would realize what was going on, and—

"I think we should make sure the fox goes with him," Scott said. "He doesn't sound like he wants to be left behind."

So much for that hope. Stiles's ears and tail drooped. "I hate you, Scotty. You lose all best friend privileges forever. When I have opposable thumbs again—"

Kira picked him up and petted him again. "It's okay, little guy! We're going to take you and your friend to get some help. Do you think you can move him?"

Scott nodded and gathered Derek up in his arms. "Yeah, I've got him. He's not hurt _too_ badly, but it'll be good to get him checked out to make sure it doesn't get infected. Call animal control, and we can meet them out in front of the Preserve with these two."

Stiles groaned and hung his head off Kira's arm. What a way to spend Halloween.

Well, at least he was still getting ear scratches.

***

To their credit, the animal control people didn't even bat an eyelash at two partly drunk college kids handing over an injured wolf and a fox at three in the morning. Stiles was almost proud.

Or, well, he would have been more proud if it hadn't ended with him and Derek in a cage. Together.

Derek curled up in one corner, sniffing at the bandages on his leg and side that the animal control lady had put on and growling a little, but Stiles could tell it was his general grumbly growl, not an actual angry one.

The cage wasn't huge, but it was plenty big enough for a wolf and a fox for one night. The place smelled _awful,_ though. Stiles was torn between trying to figure out what all the smells were and just shoving it all to a side of his mind that he would never open again.

"Will you quit pacing?" Derek grumbled.

"We're in a cage. It doesn't bother you that we're in a cage?" Stiles stood on his hind legs and pawed at the lock. He would kill for actual hands right now. "I would think it would bother you that we're in a cage."

Derek settled his big head on his forepaws. "They're taking us to wildlife rehab tomorrow, and you know Scott will come and check on us. And who knows, we might be human in the morning."

Stiles scowled. "Scott is a bum. He didn't even realize it was us. What kind of an alpha werewolf doesn't recognize two members of his pack?"

"We're _actually_ animals, or did you miss that memo?" Derek said. "We don't smell the same, and he's been drinking. Cut him a little slack."

Stiles trotted over and poked Derek in the side of the head. "I can't believe I'm hearing _you_ tell _me_ to cut Scott some slack. And when did you turn into Mr. Optimism?"

"Sometime between your high school graduation and us not getting eaten by a mountain lion," Derek said drily.

"Smartass."

Derek just opened his eyes and stared.

Stiles rolled his eyes and jumped onto Derek's back, walking in a little circle as he did. "Yeah, yeah, takes one to know one."

"You're not sleeping on top of me."

Stiles folded his paws and curled up on top of Derek. "Yes, I am. The floor is nasty and you are like a giant, soft bed. Plus, it'll make you heal faster to have contact with one of your pack."

"I don't think contact is going to have any effect on my healing right now," Derek muttered, but he didn't shake or otherwise try to make Stiles get off.

Stiles would take it. "Don't be ridiculous, it'll totally help."

"Shut up and go to sleep."

"Bite me. _Not literally_."

***

Stiles woke up the next morning feeling hot, itchy, and cramped, like he'd spent the whole night with his head jammed into metal.

He blinked, trying to pull himself out of sleep. Why was his body contorted so weirdly?

Someone screamed, and Stiles smacked his head against something hard and metal. " _Shit!_ "

"Whazza?" Derek said from underneath him.

"Holy _shit!_ " another voice said, and Stiles finally focused his eyes to see a woman staring at them in horror, mouth agape.

Stiles was about to ask what the hell was going on, when memories of last night finally surfaced from his sleepy brain.

He was in the cage at animal control. And he and Derek were both human again, which would explain why it was so cramped.

The woman was still gaping at them, mouth moving like she wanted to say something but wasn't sure _what_.

Stiles gave what he hoped was a reassuring grin. "Hey! Would you mind, uh, throwing us a key or something? And getting us a glass of water?"

She backpedaled out of the room without ever taking her eyes off the cage.

"Maybe some breakfast?" Stiles yelled after her.

***

Shortly thereafter, he and Derek were sitting in the creaky folding chairs in the lobby of the animal control building. Thankfully, they were still wearing their kigurumis, so they didn't have to face the very confused and slightly frightened attendants naked.

The woman had gotten them out of the cage, pointed at the chairs, and told them to stay _right there_ until the sheriff arrived.

Because of _course_ the only thing more embarrassing than waking up in a cage at animal control in a kigurumi was his dad being there to see it.

Dad walked in hardly thirty minutes after they'd woken up, took one look at Stiles and Derek, and shook his head. "I don't want to know."

"Dad—"

"I said I don't want to know, Stiles." Dad turned to the animal control lady. "I'm terribly sorry. I'll take them home."

"Sorry, Sheriff. I have no idea how they got in there," she said.

"I find it's best not to ask." Dad gestured to the door. "Stiles. Derek. Let's go."

Derek was on his feet first, shuffling awkwardly. "Thank you, sir."

Dad shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I have a feeling you just got dragged along for the ride."

Stiles kept his protests to himself until he and Derek were sitting in the backseat of the patrol car. "Our costumes were cursed, Dad!" he burst out as soon as the doors were shut. "Our costumes were cursed and we turned into a fox and a wolf at the party, and—"

"Stiles, which part of 'I don't want to know' don't you understand?" Dad said. "You're both alive and in one piece. That's good enough for me. I'm not here to judge. Although I'll just say, in the future, if you two are going to spend the night...together, just text me and let me know, all right?"

Stiles opened his mouth to say of _course_ he would text when the entirety of his dad's statement hit him. "Wait, what? Together? Like, together together?"

His dad sighed. "Unless there's another meaning of the word that I'm unaware of."

"That's not—it's not—we're not dating!" Stiles finally burst out. God, this was like déjà vu from last night. Did _everybody_ know about his stupid crush? Did they actually expect Derek to reciprocate?

Next to him, Derek stiffened, and shrank against the opposite door. "Yeah, we're not."

His dad looked in the rearview mirror. "Huh."

Silence settled over the car, heavy and awkward. Stiles wiped his hand over his face and kept his eyes firmly on the window. Derek had probably figured it out by now. Hell, Derek probably couldn't wait to get away from him and get some space before deciding how to let Stiles down gently.

After an interminably long ride, they finally reached Derek's loft. "Thank you for the ride, Sheriff," Derek said, and was out the door before Stiles could even blink.

His dad turned around and just stared at Stiles through the wire separating the seats.

Stiles flailed. "What?"

Dad rubbed his forehead. "You know, kid, for someone as smart as you are, you can really be dense."

"Dense about _what?_ " Stiles was desperate to understand at this point. "Why is everyone convinced we're dating? I know it's stupidly obvious that I'm in love with him, but we're just _friends_ and he doesn't feel that way about me and..."

He trailed off when he saw the way Dad raised his eyebrows.

"He doesn't feel that way about me?" Stiles repeated weakly.

Dad shook his head and raised his eyes to the roof of the car, like he was asking for patience or guidance or both. "You tell yourself whatever you want, but you know as well as I do that Derek won't put on a wolf onesie for just anyone."

Stiles swore he could hear puzzle pieces clicking into place. This wasn't a light bulb turning on. This was a fucking supernova. This was a goddamn _revelation_.

He stumbled out of the car and stuck his head back in. "I, uh, I need to—"

Dad rolled his eyes. " _Go_ , Stiles. And call me if you need a ride home."

Stiles bolted for the building. "Yeah, okay, thanks Dad! Love you!"

He dove into the elevator and spent three minutes cursing its slowness. Derek liked him back.

_Derek liked him back_.

Holy shit, how long had Derek liked him back? How long could they have been together instead of Stiles pining from afar? Like an idiot?

Clearly he was an idiot, since apparently every single other person they knew had picked up on this.

The elevator dinged, and Stiles crossed the distance to the loft in two steps and banged on the door. "Derek! Derek, open up!"

The door slid open to reveal Derek, who'd already changed into a pair of sweats and a soft grey Henley, his heavy brows pinched together in a glower. " _What_ , Stiles?"

"I like you," Stiles blurted.

Derek's eyebrows went straight to his hairline.

"I mean, I like you as a friend. I do." Ugh, that was a terrible way to start this; what was Stiles thinking? "But I also like you as more. Like, I might be kind of in love with you a little? Or a lot. A whole lot. And I didn't really think you would like me back at all, and I really do like being your friend, but if you wanted to be more, I would definitely be on board. Completely on board with that."

Derek was still standing there, staring at him and not saying a word, his eyebrows not even twitching to give Stiles an indication of how he was feeling.

Suddenly Stiles was very aware that he was word-vomiting his feelings all over Derek while (still) wearing a fox kigurumi. "Um. Anyway. I'm just gonna go—"

Derek reached forward, grabbed him by the front of his costume, and dragged him into the loft. The next thing Stiles knew, he was pressed up against the wall, and he had a split second to register Derek's arms on either side of him before Derek was kissing him.

Kissing.

Derek's mouth on Stiles's mouth.

_Kissing_.

Before Stiles could make a sound or even reciprocate, Derek pulled back and took a couple of shaky breaths. But he didn't let go of Stiles's costume. In fact, his grip might have tightened a bit.

Stiles's heart was pounding so hard he was pretty sure Derek could've heard it even without the aid of werewolf hearing. "So, um. I'm guessing that means you're on board as well?"

Derek nodded slowly, his pale eyes flicking over Stiles's face, somehow looking both more guarded and more hopeful than Stiles had ever seen him. "I didn't know you felt this way."

Stiles put his hands around Derek's wrists and rubbed them idly. "I didn't want to scare you off," he said softly. "Like I said, I like being friends with you. And I didn't think I had a chance, so...I didn't want to wreck our friendship, you know? You...this...I'd miss you, if I didn't have you in my life."

The guarded look on Derek's face faded, and he smiled, so perfect and genuine that Stiles wanted to pocket it up and save it forever. Derek closed the distance between them and kissed him again.

It was sweet and gentle, completely the opposite of anything Stiles had expected from Derek. He'd always thought their kisses would be harsh and demanding, angry and biting, not Derek cupping his jaw like he was holding the most fragile glass, not the tender brush of lips that made Stiles's mind slow down and his knees weaken.

"I'd miss you too," Derek murmured. "You make things brighter."

God, if he wasn't already stupidly gone on Derek, that would've done it. Just box up his heart and leave it in the loft, because it wasn't Stiles's anymore. "You want to go get some breakfast?"

Derek's lips twitched. "You asking me on a date?"

Stiles grinned. "Yeah, big guy, I'm asking you on a date. What do you say?"

Derek kissed his forehead. "I say yes, on one condition."

Stiles draped his arms around Derek's neck. "Anything for you, boo."

Derek laughed, and it was the most beautiful fucking sound in the world. "You have to wear _this_ ," he plucked at the front of Stiles's kigurumi, "to breakfast."

**Author's Note:**

> Come flail about Sterek with me on [Tumblr](http://mad-madam-m.tumblr.com/) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/mad_madam_m)!


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